The Host (or Gwoemul, as it's known in its home country) is a critically-acclaimed 2006 film by Bong Joon-ho, combining aspects of the kaiju movie, the political satire, and the family dramedy. It absolutely swept the Blue Dragon Awards and the 1st Asian Film Awards. It's also one of Quentin Tarantino's favourite movies of recent times.

After an American military pathologist stationed in Korea dumps over 100 bottles of formaldehyde down the drain (this part really happened and was a big scandal in the newspapers, although a company dumping MILLIONS of liters into the same river went largely unnoticed as it was done by a local company and not the Americans), a mutated, twenty-foot tadpole creature shows up on a beach and eats a bunch of people before disappearing (this part didn't really happen).

The main character, Park Gang-Du, is the father of one of the people who was eaten, a thirteen year-old girl named Hyun-seo. He's also more than a bit of a screw-up, and not a very good father, though extremely loving. After her funeral, at which he and his father, Hee-bong, are reunited with political activist brother Nam-il and national bronze medalist archer sister Nam-joo, everyone who was present at the attack is required to go to the hospital; the Korean government, under pressure from the Americans, speculate that the creature may be carrying some hideous new disease, and they want to make sure it's contained. On his first night in the hospital, however, Gang-du's cellphone starts ringing: it's Hyun-seo, who is not dead. The creature regurgitated her out into a hole in the sewer, where it appears to be saving her for later.

After the authorities don't believe him, Gang-du and his entire family break out of the hospital to find Hyun-seo. After it comes out, though, that Gang-du had some of the creature's blood splashed on him in the beach incident, he becomes Public Enemy #1, with the monster itself relegated to #2. If there's any kind of disease going around, then he's got it.

Anticlimax: Nam-il slips and drops his last Molotov. Pleasantly averted a few seconds later when Nam-joo shows up, though.

Badass Bystander: The American soldier who emerges from the crowd and tries to fight off the monster during its first rampage. A later new story reveals that he eventually dies of his wounds in hospital. This, however, means he initially survived, despite the last we saw of him being the monster pinning him by the arm, with him stabbing it.

Cell Phones Are Useless: Hyun-seo's cellphone battery is dying, and, being in the sewer, she has no way to recharge it.

Chekhov's Gag: When first encountering the creature, Gang-du throws a soda can at it to lure it out. It eats it and the whole crowd joins in and starts throwing food. A little later, the creature is regurgitating dozens of human bodies and skeletons it's been eating. The last item to fall out is Gang-du's soda can.

Driven to Suicide: Around the beginning, a businessman is jumping off a bridge, and catches a glimpse of the creature just before he jumps.

Eagleland: The film's portrayal of America is ultimately ambivalent: while the government is satirized rather viciously and there are one or two evil ones, an American soldier bravely gives his life trying to save a few people from the monster. Word of God says: "It's a stretch to simplify The Host as an anti-American film, but there is certainly a metaphor and political commentary about the U.S." This is probably why North Korea permitted the release of the movie and had good press about it. The sequel is apparently going to target the People's Republic of China, who deny the creature's existence.

Eye Scream: The creature's death, which involves being shot directly in the eye with a flaming arrow. Nam-Joo also pulls off an Unflinching Walk in this scene.

Mighty Whitey: An American soldier bravely steps up to help people escape the monster and tries to fight it off, getting mauled in the process. This was probably included to soften the anti-American message.

One Bullet Left: Subverted when Gang-Du loses track. There are no bullets left.

Also when the creature starts regurgitating all the bodies it's been eating. You wonder how it could hold all that in there.

Parental Abandonment: Hyun-seo's mother left after she was born, and she spends most of the movie trying to reunite with her father. Gang-du himself is a victim of this: his mother also left, and his father (though now very sorry) didn't take very good care of him.

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